Christian, Jewish and Buddhist leaders band together against UK gay marriage

53 religious leaders from different faiths including Christianity, Judaism and Buddhism have written to PM David Cameron opposing gay marriage.

British newspaper The Telegraph reports that Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist leaders have joined in submitting an open letter to the British Prime Minister denouncing his plans for same-sex marriage to be debated in the House of Lords next week.

In this new letter to Cameron, religious leaders wrote: ‘We are disappointed that the Government has failed to engage in meaningful debate with the many different faith communities in Britain. It has wrongly assumed that opposition to the redefinition of marriage is confined to a small number of Christians.

‘Marriage between a man and a woman is the fundamental building block of human society. These proposals would radically undermine the nature and place of the family in our society.

‘We cannot believe that this is what you intend and therefore ask you to pause before taking such a damaging step.’

This new letter echoes the sentiments of a separate plea previously submitted by leaders of the UK Muslim community. Last week, over 500 Muslim leaders throughout Britain signed a petition to Cameron saying gay marriage will ‘rob’ parents of the right to raise their children as they see appropriate.

While the same-sex marriage bill for England and Wales may have got some religious organizations furious, others have issued statements praising the UK government.